Various attempts have been made to provide driving mechanisms for toy vehicles. Examples of these attempts can be seen by reference to several U.S. patents. U.S. Pat. No. 4,577,528, issued in the name of Hanzawa, describes a driving/turnaround device for use with a toy vehicle including a reversible motor, an intermediate gear, and a pair of axles independently provided for right and left driving wheels, and a swing member rotatably mounted to the car body with a pair of switch gears providing stable turnaround of the toy vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,724, issued in the name of Law, describes a steering and drive system for toy vehicles utilizing only a single motor, wherein independent gear trains allow the motor to either rotate all wheels in the same direction to move the vehicle in a straight line or, by reversing the direction of the motor, rotate wheels on opposite sides of the vehicle in opposite directions causing the vehicle to turn.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,897,070, issued in the name of Wagstaff, describes a two-wheeled toy includes a central housing supported on a rotatable shaft between the wheels, where the shaft extends outwardly from the wheels to prevent the wheels from falling sideways.
While these apparatuses fulfill their respective, particular objectives, each of these references suffer from one (1) or more of the aforementioned disadvantages. Many such apparatuses are difficult to maneuver over rough, uneven surfaces such as gravel or carpeting. Also, many such apparatuses do not provide a desirable range of control for navigating such surfaces. Furthermore, many such apparatuses are not sufficiently resilient against shocks and rocking motion while navigating such surfaces. Accordingly, there exists a need for a driving mechanism for a remote-controlled toy vehicle without the disadvantages as described above. The development of the present invention substantially departs from the conventional solutions and in doing so fulfills this need.